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(Modem -2 Sheets-Sheet l.

H. O. JOHNSON.

Wheat Heater.

No. 234,130. Patented Nov. 9,1880.

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(ModeL) 2 Sheets--Sheet- 2.

H. O. JOHNSON.

Wheat Heater. No. 234,130. Patented Nov. 9,1880.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY C. JOHNSON, OF DAVENPORT, IOWA, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO JOHN SANDHAM, OF SAME PLACE.

WH EAT-H EATER.

SPECIFICATION forming partof Letters Patent No. 234,130, dated November 9, 1880.

Application filed March 13, 1880. (Model.)

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY G. JOHNSON, of Davenport, State of Iowa, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Grain- Heaters; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters of reference marked thereon, which formapart of this speciro fication.

This invention relates to the class of grainheaters employed in grinding-mills for the purpose of bringing the moisture to the surface to toughen the bran immediately before grinding,

1 and usually placed in the passage of the grain to the stones.

A desideratum in the operation of heaters for this use is uniformity of action upon all portions of the mass of grainfed or passed through them. Failuresin this respect are owing either,

first, to such arrangements of the heating-surfaces that some parts of the grain mass are continually in contact with them, while other portions are never brought into such contact;

or, second, to lack of uniformity in the heat of the heating-surfaces, arising usually from condensation of the steam commonly employed as the heating agent in certain parts of its passage through the heater.

0 My invention has for its object the uniform heating of the grain by, first, providing against condensation in and unequal heating of the grain-heating pipes or surfaces; and, second, by bringing all parts of the mass during its 3 5 passage through the heater into contact with the heating-surfaces.

To these ends my invention consists, first, in a series of parallel heating-pipes arranged longitudinally in the grain-passage and provided with offsets, whereby all the parts of the grain are equally exposed to heat; second, in a double-inclined passage and horizontal steamhead with vertical pipes and offsets arranged in said passages.

4 5 My apparatus in general consists of two passages diverging from a common point at the top at an angle from the vertical of, say, fortyfive degrees, and again converging at the bottom at the same angle, steam-pipes being arranged in said passages in such manner as will be described, and of such size relative thereto that the grain will freely pass downward through the heater and about the pipes, and be evenly heated in its course through the machine.

The walls bounding the passages are preferably of tin or copper, forming quadrilateral prisms, one within the other, and afl'ording a space between the two for the heating-pipes and the grain-passages around them. The ends of the prisms are closed by plates of the same material. The pipes exposed to contact with the grain are preferably of copper.

Figure l of the drawings is an exterior view of the device supposed to be arranged to form part of a spout from above to the stones. Fig.

2 shows the interior of one of the passages with its contained pipes. Fig. 3 is a transverse vertical section, and Fig. 4is an interior View looking down upon the upper half of both passages. Fig. 5 represents, in sectional perspective, one of my tubular elbows. Fig. 6 is ahorizontal section of the heater near its lower angle.

A represents the outer casing, B the inner one, and O the ends, of the heater. D is the upper opening or inlet to the passages between the prisms, and E is the lower opening or outlet from said passages. F and F respectively show the upper and lower heads of the heating-pipes. G G are such heating-pipes connected and offset by the elbows H at the outer angles of the passages.

For a single run the apparatus is about twelve inches high and broad through the diagonals of the outer prism, and about ten inches through the axis of the prisms. The space P between the prisms for the pipes and the passage of the grain is about one inch deep, and the pipes are one-half inch outside diameter. Steam is admitted at F and finds outlet through E after passing downward through the pipes G G. The grain is backed up from the stones or hopper to keep the heater full, and it passes therefrom slowly down the 5 inclined walls of the passages between the prisms and about the pipes. The elbows H, joining the upper sections, G, with the lower section, G, of the inclined pipes, give to each of the latter an offset, whereby the lower sections are in vertical planes between the upper sections, as elearly seen in Fig. 2. By this means the grain not in contact with a pipe in the upper half of the heater is brought in contact with or near a pipe in the lower half, the steam being equally hot in all the pipes by reason of their common head, and each pipe being equally heated throughout its length by reason of its brevity, all the grain is thus equally and evenly heated throughout its mass. The cylindric form of the elbows and the space about them permits no lodgment of grain in its course through the heater.

To allow of expansion of the pipes (l (i, the contiguous elbows 11 are joined by a threaded nipple, 11, as seen in Fig. 4 or otherwise, so as to permit a movement at a when the anglesot' the pipes are thrown outward under the expansive action of the heat without giving escape to the steam. The spring of the pipes (i G between the elbows and the heads is sutiicient to render any provision against leakage at the heads unnecessary.

Having thus described my invention, I claim- 1. The parallel heating-pipes G G, arranged in the grain-gassage ot' a grain-heater longitudinally in the direction of the movement of the grain, and provided with ofi'sets H, whereby all parts ofthe grain are practically equally exposed to the action of the heating-surfaces in the course of its passage through the heater,snbstantially as described.

2. The eombinatiotnwith thedoublc-inclined passage 1, of the horizontal heads F F, the vertical pipes G G, and the elbows H, movably connected, as described, and giving horizontal ofl'sets in the vertical pipes, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my invention I afljx my signature in presence of two witnesses.

HENRY O. JOHNSON.

Witnesses HARRY THOMPSON, ll. 0. ENNIs. 

